The first music video I ever saw was Michael Jackson’s Thriller. It was 1983 and I was eight. I was over at a friend’s house watching the hour-or-so long documentary that played prior to Thriller’s premiere. In fact, I remember more about the “behind-the-scenes” feature than the actual 13-minute long version of the now classic video.

Ever since, I’ve been fascinated with the music video craft – their style, history, evolution, and place amongst culture. And there is no doubt, the industry has completed shifted from the 80s MTV scene. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to even find a music video on one of the MTV networks. And honestly, this is a good thing. It has ushered a whole new era of video production, creativity, delivery, and collaboration amongst artists and film-makers.

So, needless to say, when the opportunity came to partner with my friend Ryan O’Neil of Sleeping at Last on a music video as part of his recent “Yearbook” project, we were all in. Here’s a little background on the video.

The first step in the process was actually song selection. We wanted to find a song that not only could be visually depicted in a creative fashion, but one that had a depth about it that can lead the visuals. It did not take long for me to volley for “Emphasis” – my favorite song in the collection.

While Ryan prefers to not be featured in his videos, for a variety of reasons we wanted to include a performance piece in the mix and loved the idea of shooting this aspect of the video at the famous Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. Actually, we shot two videos here – the performance piece of this video and a live performance of Sleeping at Last’s “Turning Page” – one of the featured songs in the latest Twilight movie (“Breaking Dawn: Part I”).

It’s a long story (most of which you can read here), but we ended up building the remaining narrative around a little boy (who happens to be my son) and his exploration of a seemingly large and broken world. We chose to shoot the video almost entirely in a macro format – subtly suggesting that we are often limited by our small perspective and much too close for our own good to appreciate the world in all its beauty and mystery. As Ryan has stated, “This is a little song about big questions.”

We wanted to combine this technique (macro) with the use of small hints of natural light as a subtle nod to the lyrics.

I think at one point there were more than four concepts driving the video – much of which were abandoned after the first cut. In fact, in the end, the majority of the shots with the kid (Phin) in the video were shot within the last 20 minutes of sunlight we had on our last day of filming.  Thanks to beautiful imagery captured by Wonderkind Studios, we were able to pull off the video in time for it’s Paste Magazine premiere, which we were excited to be a part of.

If you haven’t listened to Sleeping at Last yet, get on it now. Check out the recent “Yearbook” project here.

Sleeping at Last’s “Emphasis” Music Video

Production photos courtesy of Jose Rivera Jr. and Brian MacDonald.

Let’s be honest. This year’s Super Bowl ads fell short of expectations for most. Sure, there were a few laughs. An arguably meaningful moment. But, for the most part, companies (and their agencies) seemed to miss the mark. Or, did they?

Super Bowl ads are a different ball game. There are different expectations. Different rules. Friends gather and expect to be entertained. Expect something they haven’t seen before. But, what did we get this year? We saw familiar characters thanks to E*Trade (Talking Babies), Career Builders (Monkeys), and Coke (Polar Bears). We saw nostalgic throw-backs thanks to Acura (Seinfeld), Honda (Ferris Bueller), and MetLife (Cartoons). And we saw the resurgence of what has been conveniently categorized as “sex”.

Go Daddy can’t seem to detach domains from bodies. H&M wants us to think their underwear will turn us a soccer-like physique. And Teleflora, well… they’re just straight-up selling sex.

So, here’s the question. Does it still work? Does sex sell? Do ad agencies know their audience(s)?

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Why do we go to the movies? This is a question I have been pondering over the last week as both myself and Justin settle back from what has now become an annual trip to the Sundance Film Festival – seeing 18 films in 4 days. I know. It sounds exhausting. It is. To sit and watch movie after movie after movie is hard work. But before you scream foul, let’s consider the real question – “Why?” Why immerse yourself into what is seemingly an over-hyped, celebrity infused, celebration of entertainment (other than getting our pictures with Chris Rock and Ty Burell of course)?

Well, I’m glad you asked. It’s because it’s not about entertainment.

Sure, this is not the case for all movies. Anything being released from the Big 6 (studios) is ultimately banking on you buying an experience in “entertainment”. But for a significant portion of the independent filmmakers that find themselves at festivals such as Sundance, it’s about something else. And it better be, as out of the 10,000+ films submitted and the 114 films that make it into the festival each year, less than half get acquired for distribution (45 films in 2011). Actually, the percentage of films being sold has historically been more like 10% (14 in 2010). All this to say, if filmmakers are creating films with the hopes that they get bought, they are better off playing their local lottery.

Fortunately, this is not the drive for most. Filmmakers are artists. They are ultimately about expression. Expression of an idea and form. An idea that happens to get disseminated through a visual medium such as film. An idea that’s tethered to a passion. And whatever the angst, in a space such as Sundance, the ideas emerge via story form. Stories about social change. Stories about life’s complexities. Stories about relationships. Stories about what could be.

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Lists. Lists. Lists. It’s that time of year and we’re not scared to contribute to the pool. For in many ways, in a world with an (over)abundance of accessible information, year-end-lists seem to an organized space for reflection. Kind of an… “Oh yeah, a lot has happened.” The good. The bad. The absurd. Each year, the Rule29 team complies a list of memorable moments via our team. Here is 2011′s.

Top 29 of 2011 (in no particular order)

1. Our (former) governor Blog-o gets sentenced to 14 years in prison.
2. Natural disasters devastate. Tsunami. Tornados. Earthquakes.
3. Kate Middleton allows young girls everywhere to continue dreaming.
4. Wall Street. Occupied.
5. Osama. Done. Obama. Up.
6. The world said goodbye to Steve Jobs.
7. The world didn’t end.
8. The world meets Siri.
9. Chicago gets Snowpocalypse’d.
10. We said goodbye to the Space Shuttle(s) (and @timmit watches at STS-133 – watch video).
11. R29 plays with wood type (at Hamilton).
12.  Justin Bieber cuts his hair.
13. Charlie Sheen wins. Popular culture loses.
14. Egypt revolts. Facebook/Twitter actually serve a purpose.
15.  John Galliano makes anti Semitic statements. Fired as head designer by Christian Dior
16.  We all get Life Kerned.
17. Terrance Malick comes out of hiding and graces us with “Tree of Life.”
18. R29 introduces GIVE. Stories Matter. Matters to You.
19. Cloud storage (finally) gets noticed.
20. R29 helps out at Turning Point with Grip & Faust.
21. Libya revolts. Gaddafi ousted.
22. Justin speaks at TEDx.
23. Alexander McQueens introduces us to “Savage Beauty” at the Met.
24.  Arcade Fire wins the Grammy’s. Indie fans stunned. Katy Perry fans ask “Arcade who?”
25.  Netflix believes themselves to be invisible. Gets put in their place.
26.  Joe Patterno exits Penn State. (Some) college fans realize there are more important things than football.
27.  AIGA Pivot. R29 helps design the “Perfect Pair“. For kicks.
28. Science progresses. Discovery of evidence of the Higgs Boson at CERN. Discovery of particles faster than the speed of light.
29.  Steve Buscemeyes.

What is on your list?

One of the most often overlooked benefits of the holiday season is the plentiful of Christmas episodes our beloved sitcoms offer up each year. Some have failed, but plenty have offered up new lingo for our holiday cheer. Our office voted and here are some of our (more recent-ish) favorites, everything from this past week’s Modern Family (“Express Christmas”) to what is arguably the greatest Christmas, ahem… “Festivus” episode of all time. Enjoy. Read the rest of the entry >